Chinese authorities nab 67,000 illegal immigrants

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More than 67,000 illegal immigrants have been caught by police in four southern regions of China since February 2016, the Ministry of Public Security has said.

The ministry said a 21-month special operation smashed over 50 criminal rings that smuggled foreigners from Southeast Asia and South Asia into the provinces of Guangdong and Yunnan and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on the Chinese mainland, and in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The announcement was made at a media briefing in the coastal city of Shenzhen on Thursday.

A border control police officer in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province checks belongings of illegal immigrants. /Photo by Ministry of Public Security. /CGTN Photo

Yin Chengjun, an official from the ministry's border control bureau, said mainland police cracked more than 290 cases involving smugglers transporting people from the mainland to Hong Kong, their preferred destination.

Yin added that human-smuggling rings have become a well-organized and efficient industry chain extending from Hong Kong to the sources of illegal immigrants in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries through the mainland in recent years.

The official explained that the "big" gang bosses are usually based in Hong Kong while numerous "snake heads" carry out their orders in and outside the territory.

Illegal immigrants captured in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province. /Photo by Ministry of Public Security. /CGTN Photo

Those on the mainland are responsible for transporting "human cargo" from borders with neighboring countries to Hong Kong, where some illegal immigrants stay and pay for their "trips" by working for low pay.

Their lives in Hong Kong are hard and even perilous at times, given that many of them are under pressure to pay a huge amount for their trips. That is why they pose a serious threat to public security in the areas where they live and work, officials said.

The ministry noted that the need for law enforcement cooperation has been growing amid personnel exchanges and flourishing cross-boundary tourism in recent decades.

The 52 illegal immigrants captured in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. /Photo by Ministry of Public Security. /CGTN Photo

According to Yin, since criminal rings have been honing their "craft" for years, law enforcement authorities in Hong Kong and the mainland need to be on high alert more than ever, and the special operation is expected to continue until July 2019.